Victoria Cross for Australia
Victoria Cross for Australia - the highest distinction in the Australian honors system, who replaced the British Victoria Cross specifically for the delivery of the Australians . The Victoria Cross for Australia is "the supreme honor of individuals who have performed conspicuous acts of valor in the face of the enemy, or who have performed courageous or outstanding acts of valor or self-sacrifice, or have shown extreme devotion to duty."
Victoria Cross for Australia was established January 15, 1991 on the basis of patent certificates, signed by the Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II of . It is ranked first (along with the British Victoria Cross) in the order of wearing Australian decorationsand has priority over all orders, medals and decorations of Australia. The cross may be awarded to members of the Australian Defense Forces and others as specified by the Australian Secretary of Defense... The Victoria Cross for Australia is eligible to place the post-nominal abbreviation “VC” after his name.
The Victoria Cross for Australia is awarded by the Governor General of Australia with the approval of the Monarch on the recommendation of the Secretary of Defense. His first knight of January 16, 2009 became a trooper Mark donaldson for the salvation of the translator of the coalition forces under fire in the Wilayat of Uruzgan during the war in Afghanistan , nearly 40 years after Warrant Officer Keith Payne was the last Australian awarded the British Victoria Cross on 24 May 1969 for bravery during the Vietnam War ... Unlike the original Victoria Cross, where the announcement of the award is followed shortly by the presentation of the award, in Australia these actions take place concurrently with an investiture by the Governor General in the presence of the Prime Minister .
History
British victoria cross
The Victoria Cross was established on January 29, 1856 by Queen Victoria of Great Britain for retrospective rewarding of distinguished participants in the Crimean War . According to some reports, the award was cast from bronze cascades of two guns, repulsed from the Russian troops during the siege of Sevastopol . However, in the course of later studies using X-ray images of early Victoria crosses, it was shown that the metal used in them was not actually of Russian origin, but was smelted from ancient Chinese tools.
The barracks of the cannon from which the medals were cast are now found at the officers' mess in the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich . The rest of the only surviving cascade weighing about 10 kilograms is kept at the disposal of the 15th regiment of the Royal Logistics Corpsat Donington baseunder armed guard. According to the assumptions of the historian John Glanfield, about 80-85 more Victoria crosses could be cast from this cascade. To this day, the jewelry company “ Hancocks & Co ” is responsible for the production of absolutely every cross of Victoria.", Founded in 1849. Both the Australian and New Zealand Victoria Crosses are cast in the same bronze as the British award, while the Canadian version has undergone some changes.
The original Victoria Cross was awarded to 96 Australians, of whom 91 were awarded while serving in the Australian forces, and the remaining 5 are former Australian soldiers who transferred to South African or British forces. 6 awards were awarded for the First Boer War , 64 for the First World War , 2 for the Northern Russian Campaign , 20 for the Second World War , 4 for the Vietnam War . The first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross on June 4, 1901 was Neville Howes.during the Boer War, and the last on May 24, 1969 - Keith Payne for his actions in Vietnam.
Selected Commonwealth awards
After the end of World War II, a number of member countries of the newly formed Commonwealth of Nations established their own reward systems, different from the British . Nevertheless, the possibility of awarding citizens of these countries with British awards was left. In place of the British Victoria Cross and other insignia, their own awards for courage and bravery were created. The top honors in Australia , Canada and New Zealand were named after the British Victoria Cross, with some design differences, making the awards systems unique to each of these countries.
The Victoria Cross for Australia was established on January 15, 1991 by a patentsigned by Queen Elizabeth II of Australia . Thus, Australia became the first of the three Commonwealth states to establish a separate Victoria Cross in its own system of awards. The award remains identical to its British counterpart, although the cross is slightly smaller. On August 22, 2017, the statute was changed regarding the appearance of the award.
The Victoria Cross for Canada was established on December 31, 1992. The statute and design remained largely unchanged, except that the obverse was written in Latin and the alloy composition of the cross contained inclusions of metals mined in Canada. No Victoria Cross has been awarded to Canada. The Victoria Cross for New Zealand was established on September 20, 1999. The appearance of the award is completely identical to the original British Victoria Cross, however, some changes have been made to the status regarding the possibility of awarding peacekeeping activities. On July 2, 2007, he was awarded Corporal Bill Apiata .
Description
The Victoria Cross for Australia is identical to the original and is a Maltese , or clawed cross , medal . The beams of an equal-pointed cross taper towards the center and widen at the ends without having cutouts on them. Material - dark bronze . The size of each axis is 35 millimeters. In the center of the cross is the Crown of St. Edward , surmounted by a crowned lion , the emblem of the British royal family , and below it, in a semicircle, a ribbon in the form of a scroll with the inscription “ FOR VALOR". The shoe is attached to the cross through a V-shaped eyelet and is decorated with images of laurel leaves, a purple ribbon 38.5 millimeters wide. On the reverse side of the cross, in a circle, the date of the feat is indicated, and on the back side of the block - the name and division of the recipient. In case of re-awarding, a buckle is attached to the ribbon of the existing Victoria Crossin the form of a bronze strip measuring 38.5 millimeters in width and 6 millimeters in height. There are also straps and cross miniatures for everyday wear. The strap is a tape 41 millimeters wide and 10 millimeters high with a reduced replica of a cross, 9 millimeters in size, fixed on it in the middle along each axis. A miniature is a miniature copy of the cross, suspended on a 16 mm wide ribbon.
The statute
The Victoria Cross for Australia is awarded "for the most conspicuous bravery, or for a valiant or outstanding act of valor or self-sacrifice, or for extreme dedication to duty in the presence of an enemy." The award may be awarded posthumously. The Cross may be awarded to members of the Australian Defense Forces , as well as other individuals as specified by the Australian Secretary of Defense... “Other persons” are intended to refer to police officers , women and civilians who can be rewarded, for example, for acting during a terrorist attack. The award is made by an act of the Governor General with the approval of the monarchand on the recommendation of the Minister of Defense. Each award must be recorded in an appropriate award register maintained by a registrar appointed by the Governor General. The Governor-General can either cancel the act of awarding the award or restore a previously canceled award. If the award is canceled, the cross is returned to the state, and the name of the person deprived of the award must be removed from the register. If the award is restored and the decision to withdraw the award is canceled, the entry in the register must be restored.
The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest distinction in the Australian award system, having priority over the rest of the Australian awards along with the British Victoria Cross. The junior awards in relation to both crosses are the British George Cross and the Australian Cross of Valor... The cross is worn on the left side of the chest, along with full-size orders, medals and insignia, and in front of them in accordance with the order of wearing Australian awardsapproved by the monarch. Cavaliers of the Victoria Cross for Australia are eligible for post-nominal letter acronym placement"VC" after your name; holders of a buckle to the cross add the phrase "and Bar" to the abbreviation. According to military protocol and established tradition, other members of the armed forces honor the Knight of the Victoria Cross for Australia, even if he is lower in rank. Under the Veterans Rights Act 1986, the Victoria Cross for Australia, as well as the British award, is paid a special cash benefit of $ 3,230 per year, which is indexed annually since 2005 in line with the increase in the consumer price index . The awardees and their family members can perform representational duties and take part in ceremonial events at public expense.
Knights of the Victoria Cross for Australia
- Features:
- Awarded posthumously
- Living now
| Name | DP | TO | Subdivision | Place of achievement | DN | P | MN | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byrd, Cameron | 22.6 . 2013 | BBA | 2nd Commando Regiment | Chavchak , Uruzgan , Afghanistan | 18.2 . 2014 | AVM | ||
| Donaldson, Mark | 2.9 . 2008 | BBA | Special Air Service Regiment | Uruzgan , Afghanistan | 16.1 . 2009 | AVM | ||
| Keygran, Daniel | 24.8 . 2010 | BBA | 6th battalion | Derapet, Uruzgan , Afghanistan | 1.11 . 2012 | AVM | ||
| Roberts-Smith, Ben | 11.6 . 2010 | BBA | Special Air Service Regiment | Tizak, Kandahar , Afghanistan | 23.1 . 2011 | AVM | ||
| Sheehan, Edward | 1.12 . 1942 | WWII | « HMAS Armidale are" | Arafura Sea , Portuguese Timor | 12.8 . 2020 | not handed over |
Retrospective Awards Question
In the awarding practice of the Victoria Cross, obvious anomalies were often found, which were explained by accidental mistakes or a simple coincidence of fate, but many considered it a great injustice not to award this award to specific individuals. In particular, none of the employees of the Royal Australian Navy was awarded the Victoria Cross , about which many theories have been put forward - from assumptions about the bias of the members of the Royal Australian Navy.who made presentation for awards and allegedly took an arrogant position in relation to the Australians, or before arguing that in naval battles in which the employees of the ship's crews act as a whole, there are simply fewer opportunities for individual heroism. Nevertheless, there are cases when the Australian ship crews were almost entirely killed along with the ship, which did not cancel their heroic actions. A number of individuals are known who have not been awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia despite their merits. One of the most famous and controversial precedents of this kind was the feat of a 2nd class sailor Edward Sheehan , who died in 1942 with the ship HMAS Armidale"During the Second World War and for actions to save his comrades, he was only mentioned in reports...
In 2001 Senator Chris Schlachtdrafted an award bill for Sheehan himself, as well as John Simpson and Albert Clearycrosses of Victoria, but its consideration did not progress beyond the second reading. The reason for this is due to the fact that the bill was supported by the leader of the oppositionfrom Labor by Kim Beesley, however, his party did not win the ensuing electionsand the bill never became an official act of parliament. The case got off the ground in 2010 when Senator Guy Barnettin parliament named Sheehan and Hector Waller, candidates for the Victoria Cross. In 2011, Parliamentary Secretary of Defense Senator David Feeneyannounced that the Independent Honors and Awards Appeals Tribunal has begun to investigate award-winning acts of military heroism and valor against 13 men, most of them in the Navy. The list included the previously mentioned Sheehan, Cleary, Simpson, Waller, as well as new candidates - Robert Davis , Frances Emms , Dalmorton Rudd , Noel Shipp , Francis Smith , Ronald Taylor , David Hamer, Robert Rankinand Henry Stoker...
In 2013, two years later, the tribunal announced the conclusions of its investigation - all candidates were rejected on various grounds with the reference to the fact that all their merits had already been adequately recognized in the past. Nevertheless, Sheehan's relatives, along with sympathizers, continued to fight. In 2018, Barnett filed a complaint against the tribunal's decision, which was publicly heard on the matter in 2019. The report was released only after public pressure on the Prime Minister's office... The decision stated that Sheehan's actions in relation to the Victoria Cross statute met all the criteria for awarding and the tribunal unanimously decided to recommend to the Secretary of Defenseprepare a presentation to the Queen of Sheehan's candidacy for his award. The report was sent to the Minister of Defense for personnel Darren Chester, who agreed with the recommendations of the tribunal and announced his intention to consult on this matter with other cabinet ministers, as well as the prime minister . Subsequently, Secretary of Defense Linda Reynoldsstated that "the study conducted by the tribunal did not provide any new evidence that could influence the revision of the recommendations," and called such a decision difficult, but correct "in the circumstances." Thereafter, Tribunal President Mark Sullivansaid Reynolds had misled the Senate about the tribunal's findings, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison “reluctantly” agreed to his Secretary of Defense’s decision, but soon after public pressure decided to intervene in Sheehan’s case.
In 2020, Morrison commissioned a panel of experts led by former Secretary of Defense and former Director of the Australian War Memorial Brendan Nelsonevaluate the possibility of rewarding Sheehan. Formerly Australian Army Chief Angus Campbell"Strongly advised" Morrison and Chester not to seek awards for Sheehan because such a precedent could "open the floodgates" for "a number of additional retrospective military awards" claims over "all past conflicts." After presenting compelling new evidence in support of Sheehan's award, based on testimonies from his comrades and data from the archives, the experts unanimously recommended the Prime Minister to honor Sheehan with the Victoria Cross. The Prime Minister then turned to Governor General David Hurley to seek the approval of Queen Elizabeth II.to Sheehan's posthumous award of the Victoria Cross for Australia, which he received in the same year. Thus, Sheehan's long-standing 78-year recognition process was completed.